Hybrid computing system of automatic connection type

ABSTRACT

In a hybrid computing system in which a plurality of analog operating elements are selectively automatically connected to each other through a switch matrix for constituting a desired analog operating circuit, the analog operating elements are divided into a plurality of groups each called a module and the desired analog operating elements are selected from these modules to constitute the desired analog operating circuit. In the system, the modules are numbered in the order of sequence and the analog operating elements are successively selected in one direction starting from the module having the smallest or largest ordinal number.

United States Patent [191 Endo et al.

HYBRID COMPUTING SYSTEM OF AUTOMATIC CONNECTION TYPE inventors:

Assignee:

Filed:

Appl. No.:

Takeyuki Endo, l-lachioji; Norio Yokozawa, Fuchu; Shigeru Watanabe,Kodaira; Kunihiro Okada, Tanashi, all of Japan Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo,Japan Sept. 1, 1972 285,648

Foreign Application Priority Data Oct. 22, 1971 Japan 46-83318References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1969 Tonnessonm'. 340/166 R XSTAGE 0 LP, 147R, 166; 444 1 7 1 Mar. 5, 1974 Primary Examiner-Joseph F.Ruggiero Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Craig and Antonelli 57 1 ABSTRACT In ahybrid computing system in which a plurality of analog operatingelements are selectively automatically connected to each other through aswitch matrix for'constituting a desired analog operating circuit, theanalog operating elements are divided into a plurality of groups eachcalled a module and the desired analog operating elements are selectedfrom these modules to constitute the desired analog operating circuit.In the system, the modules are numbered in the order of sequence and theanalog operating elements are successively selected in .one directionstarting from the module having the smallest or largest ordinal number.

4 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures STAGE b SHEETI 0F FIG. I

\ STAGE 0 STAGE b PAI-ENIEUIIAR 51914 SHEET 2 IIF 3 FIG. 3

NAME OF LOGICAL ELEMENT INPUT-OUTPUT TERMINAL INFORMATION C I POINTER INAME OF LOGICAL ELEMENT NPUT-OUTPUT TERMINAL INFORMATION A (POINTER)NAME OF LOGICAL ELEMENT INPUT-OUTPUT TERMINAL INFORMATION ae B (POINTER)FIG. 4

INT OII INPUT TERMINAL COORDINATES INFORMATION OUTPUT TERMINALCOORDINATES INFORMATION ADD O2I COORDI NATE 8 INPUT TERMINAL INFORMATIONOUTPUT TERMINAL COORDINATES INFORMATION *An *8 *C! TOP ADDRESS OF LISTACH LIST SHOWS) ONE ELEMENT PATENTEBHAR 5|974 SHEET 3 D? 3 FIG.

MODULE 1L MODULE MATRIX INTER- MODULE MATRIX FIG. 8

FIG. 7

FIG.9

Ton

Tol T02 HYBRID COMPUTING SYSTEM OF AUTOMATIC CONNECTION TYPE BACKGROUNDOF THE .INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to anautomatic connection system for a hybrid computer of the automaticconnection type.

2. Description of the Prior Art Heretofo re, operating circuits ofan-analog hybrid computer have been provided by manually inserting patchcords into holes on patch boards corresponding to input and outputterminals of analog operating elements. Therefore, the connection has afreedom which is considered to be nearly infinite. In the case of anautomatic connection, however, input and output terminals of analogoperating elements are fixedly connected to a switch matrix constitutedby arranging many switches in the form of a matrix, and in many cases,the switches are turned on and off by a digital computer for attainingthe automatic connection between the operating elements. In the case ofthe automatic connection, a one-stage switch matrix as shown in FIG. 1is preferably used to provide an extremely high freedom of connection.In FIG. 1, the number of inputs to the generally employed.

FIG. 2 shows a two-stage switch matrix, and in this I case,the number ofswitches is proportional to N However, due to the fact that the stagesare fixedly connected by the lines, desired connection cannot beattained if the lines are already in use. Therefore, the freedom ofconnection is generally remarkably low compared with the manual system.The lines to be used for connection are automatically determined upondetermination of the input and output terminals of the elements, and theswitches used for connection are also determined automatically. It isthe key point of the automatic connection system how to obviate such aninconvenience. In other words, it is important how the operating circuitis'actually constituted by suitably selecting the operating elementswhile avoiding an undesirable situation of impossibility of actualconnection. Heretofore, freedom of connection has been discussed onlyfrom the viewpoint of the structure of the switch matrix and aninsufficient countermeasure has been taken to deal with the situation ofimpossiblity of connection. Prior practice has been such that thefunction of cancelling all the existing connection and reestablishingnew connection is added to the software to deal with the situation ofimpossibility of connection so ous defects. In the first place, a longperiod of time is required for connection due to the invervention ofman. Secondly, the efficiency of utilization of the switch matrix is lowand an effort to compensate for the reduced efficiency by the increasein the number of switches results in the increase in .the cost of theswitch matrix. Thirdly, even if all the connection is cancelled to avoidthe undesirable situation of impossibility of connection, theprobability with which the connection is necessarily successfullyattained in the next chance after the cancellation of connection is verylow and-a long period of time is inevitably required until theconnection is changed.

SUMMARY OF TI-IE INVENTION With a view to obviate the defects abovedescribed, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide anovel and improved system which ensures efficient use of connectionmatrixes and reduces the period of time required for connection therebyreadily eliminating the undesirable situation of impossibility ofconnection.

In order to attain the above object, the present invention provides asystem in which all the operating elements for constituting anoperatingcircuit are listed in lists according to their logical names so that, inthe event of occurrence of impossibility of connection,

anyone or both of the two elements which cannot be connected to eachother can be interchanged with the element or elements of the same kind,or if it is unable to establish necessary connection between the inputof one of the two elements and the output of the other element orbetween the input and output of another element, a further element whichdoes not adversely affect the normal operation of the operating circuitcan be interposed between the input and the output. The presentinvention having the above feature can eliminate substantially all theprior defects and is effective for the reduction of the cost of thehybrid computer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 shows a method of connectionbetween elements of an operating circuit using a one-stage switchmatrix. 7

FIG. 2 shows a method of automatic connection and of changing connectionbetween elements of an operating circuit using a two-stage switchmatrix.

FIG. 3 shows an operating circuit in the form of lists.

FIG. 4 shows a data table concerning the hardware.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of an operating circuit for illustrating theoperation of an arrangement shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 shows in which manner the actual operating elements required inthe operating circuit shown in F IG. 5 are selected from a plurality ofmodules.

FIG. 7 shows the order of connection between an element having aplurality of input terminals and elements supplying input signals to theelement.

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of an operating circuit for illustrating themanner of changing the connection.

FIG. 9 shows means for automatically shortcircuiting a terminal in FIG.2 for changing the connection.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS to connect the input and outputterminals of a plurality of operating elements for constituting anoperating circuit as shown in FIG. 5. In this case, all the analogoperating elements in a computer are divided into a plurality of groupseach including a two-stage switch matrix as shown in FIG. 2. Each groupis called a module and all the modules have the same construction.Therefore,

all the operating elements are arranged in the form of an assembly asshown in FIG. 6. Since each module is a unit of all the operatingcircuits, these modules must be connected to each other and anothermatrix is required for establishing the connection between any twomodules. Therefore, the entire arrangement includes a plurality ofmodule matrixes for connecting the elements constituting the individualmodules and a plurality of matrixes, hereinafter to be referred to asintermodule matrixes, for connecting the elements belonging to theindividual modules.

Information put in by man, that is, information representing the stateof connection is stored in the form of lists in a corernemory. Thearrangement of the lists is substantially as shown in FIG. 3. All thelists each representing an operating element are connected to each otherby a pointer, and the name of the element is represented by the logicalname. F IG. 4 shows a table showing the names of the elements in theactual hardware and the coordinates of the switches in the switchmatrix. For example, an integrator is designated by the hardware nameINT 011. In the three-digit number 011, the rightmost digit 1 representsthe module number and the two digits 01 on the left-hand side representthe fact that the integrator is the first integrator in the module Ml.Thus, when an element is selected from one of themodules, the specificmodule can be readily identified.

Suppose that the element A in the operating circuit shown in FIG. 5 isselected from the module M1 in FIG. 6. In such a case, the element A isdirectly connected to the elementB when the element B belongs also tothe module M1. The element B is selected from the module M2 if theelement B in the module M1 is already in useand the elements B in themodules M2 and M3 are not in use. Similarly, when the element B isselected from the module M2 and the element C to be connected to theelement B is found in both the modules M1 and M2, the element C isselected from the module M2. This concept may be applied to all theoperating circuits. In this case, the direction of selection of theoperating elements is unidirectional as shown by the solid lines in FIG.6. Such a directional selection is advantageous in averaging thefrequency with which the inter-module matrixes are used.

' In another method, the element C may be selected solely from themodule MlrAccording to this method, one of the modules is solelyselected so as to use the element C belonging to the specific module asfar as possible and the element C is inevitably sought from the othermodules when the element C in the specific module is already in use.This method is represented by the dotted lines shown in FIG. 6 in whichit will be seen that the connection is attained in two directions. Inthis method, the frequency with which the individual intermodulematrixes are used is not uniform. In the former method, the number ofswitches in the inter-module matrixes may be designed on the basis ofthe mean value of the switches in use, but in the latter method, thenumber of switches must be designed on the basis of the maximum numberrequired. It is therefore apparent that the former method is useful forthe reduction in the number of switches.

Consider now the allocation of operating elements to an operatingcircuit as shown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the connection between actualelements E and F has been completed already and an element C must now beconnected to a plurality of elements E, G and K. In this case, theconnection between the elements E and C is carried out preferentially.Identification as to whether or not a specific element is already in usemay be easily attained by reference to a table registering only thoseelements which are already in use. This table registers also faultyelements regarding that these elements are included in the elementswhich are already in use.

In FIG. 7, any actual elements are not yet allotted to the theseelements G and K. This is because, when it is unable to attain theconnection between-the elements E and C, one of the input terminal ofthe element C provided for connection between the element C and theelement G may be utilized for establishing the connection between theelements E and C. If such a connection cannot be established, theelement E may be disconnected from the element F and may be interchangedwith another element of the same kind. After the connection between theelements E and C has been established, one of the elements G and K isselected for connection. In this case, the element which is provided ina lesser number is preferentially selected. When the element G, forexample, ispreferentially selected, the actual element for G isdetermined to be connected to the element C. If the connectiontherebetween is impossible, another element corresponding to G isdetermined once more as will be described later.

The method of allocating the operating elements in the manner abovedescribed is advantageous in the effective utilization of theinter-module matrixes and in the reduction of the number of switches inthe intermodule matrixes. This method is further advantageous in thatthe element having been connected already with another element as shownin FIG. 7 can be preferentially selected for connection with a furtherelement thereby avoiding an undesirable situation of impossibility ofconnection.

When the situation of impossibility of connection occurs inevitably, amethod which will be described below may be taken to deal with thesituation. Suppose that input and output terminals of elements in anoperating circuit as shown in FIG. 8 are connected by means of atwo-stage switch matrix as shown in FIG. 2. (This switch matrix isconsidered herein as a module matrix for the simplicity of description.)As seen in FIG. 2, the matrix comprises two stages, stage a and stage b,and each stage comprises'a plurality of unit matrixes called blocks.Lines whose number is equal to the number of blocks of the stage b leadout from each block of the stage a for the fixed connection between thestages a and b. These lines may connect the stage a with the stage b inany desired manner and there is not any especial restriction on thenumber of these lines. For the ease of understanding, however, it isassumed herein that these lines are arranged regularly as shown andanyone of the blocks of the stage b is connected with anyone of theblocks of the stage a by one line leading out from each block of thestage a. In this case, inputs to the elements are fixedly connected tothe stage b and outputs from the elements are fixedly connected to thestage a. In FIG. 2, the output terminals of the elements are indicatedby the numbers such as(D,@@@ These numbers coincide with thenumber@@,@@, appearing on the side of the stage aIThe intersections ofthe lines in the unit matrixes indicate the switches which are suitablynumbered for the ease of understanding. Further, those ele- -ments whichare required to constitute the operating circuit shown in FIG. 8 aremerely shown in FIG. 2.

It is supposed that the switches 1 and 2 are selected for establishingthe connection between the elements A and B in FIG. 8, and the switches3 and 4 are selected for establishing the connection between theelements B and C in FIG. 8. In response to the application of coordinatedata for a specific switch to the linkage from a digital computer, apulse is applied from the linkage to the switch corresponding to thecoordinate point represented by the data for turning on the specificswitch. The switches are actually turned on after the coordinates of allthe switches have been determined.

Suppose that the switches 5 and 6 are subsequently selected forestablishing the connection between the elements C and D. However, dueto the fact that the line a is already in, use for the connectionbetween the elements B and C, the input terminals of the elements B andC and the output terminals of the elements C and D are short-circuitedin response to the turn-on of the switches 5 and 6, resulting inimpossibility of execution of the operation. One of the methods foravoiding this situation comprises distributing the input terminals ofthe element C having a plurality of such terminals to the individualblocks of the corresponding number without exclusively connecting theinput terminals to the same single block only of the stage a so that,when the above situation occurs, the input terminal d can be selected inlieu of the input terminal 6 for automatically selecting the line a inlieu of the line a thereby establishing the desired connection. Anothermethod is employed if the repetition of the above precedure by thenumber of input terminals cannot still break through the situation. InFIG. 2, theelement D of the same kind as the element D is fixedlyconnected at its output terminals to the block different from the blockto which the element D is'connected in the stage a. According to thesecond method, the element D is abandoned and the switches 9 and 10 areselected for establishing the connection between the element D and theinput terminal d of the element C. In this case, the line ,6 is selectedinstead of the linea which is already in use. If the repetition of theabove procedure on the elements of the same kind as the element D cannotstill attain the desired connection, a further method is employed inwhich the element C of the same kind as the element C is selected inlieuof the element C. According to the third method, the input terminalsof the element C must be distributed tothe blocks of the stage b in sucha manner thatthese input terminals may not be connected to the sameblocks of the stage b to which the input terminals of the element C areconnected. In this case, the switches l 1, l2 and 7, 8 are selected toestablish the connection between the elements B, C and C, D by the lines7 and a respectively. If these lines are already in use, the elements ofthe same kind as the element C are successively selected until thedesired connection is established. The desired connection for theelement B can be simultaneously attained.

The first to third methods above described are effective in the case inwhich the number of elements is relatively small as shown in FIG. 8compared with the number of analog elements actually installed in acomputer system. Further, these methods are efi'ective in solving theproblem arising in the initial stage of connection. However, in ananalog and a hybrid computer, the majority or all of the principalelements such as integrators, adders and multipliers are simultaneouslyplaced in operation except the potentiometers which are provided in arelatively large number compared with the other elements, and thesituation of impossibility of connection described hereinbefore occursmostly in the final stage of connection. Thus, the elements are notinterchangeable in most cases. However, due to the fact that thepotentiometers are commonly provided in the number giving a sufficientmargin, extra potentiometers may be interposed between the elements Cand D. It is apparent in FIG. 2 that the selection of the potentiometerP cannot attain the connection between the element D and the inputterminals c and d of the element C. Thus, the potentiometer P isselected and the switches 13, l4, l5 and 16 are selected to complete theconnection. In this case, the potentiometer P is set at +1 so that theinterposition of the potentiometer P between the elements C and D maynot adversely affect the operation of the circuit. In this manner, theroute connecting the elements C, P and D is completed by the lines 7 and8. Electronic coefficient multipliers (digital potentiometers)include'the type in which the polarity is inverted and the type in whichno polarity inversion occurs. Two of them must be connected in serieswhen they are of the type in which the polarity is inverted. In such acase, four extra lines are required and the connecting ability of thematrix is reduced correspondingly, which is undesirable. To deal withthis case, an external terminalto be exclusively used for changing thelines may be provided as shown in FIG. 2 so that, in the event ofoccurrence of the situation of impossibility of connection, the user oroperator can short-circuit the input side T, of the external terminal@to the output side T,, as shown by the dotted line. In this case, theswitches 13, I4, 15 and 16 are, selected and the element C is connectedwith the element D by the lines 7 and 8. If anyone of the lines'y and 8is already in use, the terminal T, (not shown) corresponding to theterminal T, or the terminal T (not shown) corresponding to the terminalT may be'selected. If

the desired connection is still impossible even by the above procedure,both of the terminals T, and T may be selected in lieu of the terminalsT, and T The software may be suitably designed so as to inform the userof which terminal should be short-circuited. After the above procedurefor changing the lines, the switches 17 and 18 may be selected forestablishing the connection between the elements D and A, therebycompleting all the connection on the operating circuit.

Automatic short-circuiting may be applied to the line-changing terminalin lieu of themanual shortcircuiting. This can be attained by a switchmatrix as shown in FIG. 9. While the present invention has beendescribed with reference to a two-stage switch matrix, the presentinvention is applicable also to a multi-stage switch matrix such as athree-stage switch matrix.

Finally, the process of connection will be described again withreference to the circuit shown in F IG. 8. The information concerningthe circuit shown in FIG. 8 is prepared in the form of lists as shown inFIG. 3. In this case, the lists corresponding to the elements A, B, Cand Dare prepared. The logical name in the list corresponding to theelement A which is the starting point of connection is identified so asto ascertain the fact that the element A is an integrator. Then, byreference to the table shown in FIG. 4, an actual integrator is detectedtherefrom and a sound integrator belonging to the module M1 isdetermined after identifying whether or not this integrator belongs tothe module M1 and whether or not this integrator is sound or free fromany fault. Then, from the logical name in the list corresponding to theelement B which is to be connected to the input of the integrator, theelement B is identified as a potentiometer, and by reference to thetable shown in FIG. 4, a potentiometer belonging to the module M1 isidentified and selected. The coordinates of the input terminal of theelement A or integrator, the block number of the stage b to which thisinput terminal is connected, the coordinates of the output terminal ofthe element B or potentiometer, and the block number of the stage a towhich this output terminal is connected, are readily identified byreference to the table shown in FIG. 4. Then, the switches and line tobe used are sought by simple arithmetic operation. This information isthe final information used for turning on the switches and is stored inthe core memory in the form of a table. Subsequently, the switches andline for establishing the connection between the elements B and C aresimilarly determined. In this case, the switch table above described isreferred to so as to inspect whether or not the same switches areselected. When the same switches and line are selected, the line ischanged according to the procedure above described.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that the presentinvention is advantageous in that it enables to allocate actual elementsto an operating circuit at a high speed and reduces the number ofswitches in from the starting point, thereby reducing the period of timerequired for changing the connection and remarkably increasing theability of connection. This fact has been ascertained on an actualhybrid computer of the automatic connection type.

We claim: i 1. A hybrid computing system of the automatic connectiontype comprising a plurality of analog operating elements, and amulti-stage switch matrix for carrying out the automatic connectionbetween said analog operating elements, said analog operating elementsbeing divided into a plurality of groups each called a module so thatsuitable ones of said elements can be selected from said modules forconstituting a desired operating circuit, wherein said modules arerespectively numbered and said elements are successively selected in onedirection starting from the module having the smallest or largestnumber.

2. A hybrid computing system of the automatic connection type as claimedin claim 1, wherein the order of priority is such that the elementhaving a largest number of input terminals or fan-outs is given ahighest priority and said elements are successively allocated in theorder of those having a higher priority.

3. A hybrid computing system of the automatic connection type as claimedin claim 1, wherein the order of priority is such that the elementhaving a largest number of input terminals or fan-outs is given ahighest priority so that said elements can be successively allocated inthe order of those having a higher priority, and when theconnectioncannot be attained due to unsuitable allocation of saidelements for the operation demand, the input terminal of one of saidelements is interchanged with another input terminal, or one of saidelements is interchanged with another element of the same kind, or afurther element is interposed between the elements to be connected witheach other.

4. A hybrid computing system of the automatic connection type as claimedin claim 1, wherein a connection changing terminal is interposed betweenthe elements to be connected with each other so that the connection canbe continued through said terminal.

1. A hybrid computing system of the automatic connection type comprisinga plurality of analog operating elements, and a multistage switch matrixfor carrying out the automatic connection between said analog operatingelements, said analog operating elements being divided into a pluralityof groups each called a module so that suitable ones of said elementscan be selected from said modules for constituting a desired operatingcircuit, wherein said modules are respectively numbered and saidelements are successively selected in one direction starting from themodule having the smallest or largest number.
 2. A hybrid computingsystem of the automatic connection type as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe order of priority is such that the element having a largest numberof input terminals or fan-outs is given a highest priority and saidelements are successively allocated in the order of those having ahigher priority.
 3. A hybrid computing system of the automaticconnection type as claimed in claim 1, wherein the order of priority issuch that the element having a largest number of input terminals orfan-outs is given a highest priority so that said elements can besuccessively allocated in the order of those having a higher priority,and when the connection cannot be attained due to unsuitable allocationof said elements for the operation demand, the input terminal of one ofsaid elements is interchanged with another input terminal, or one ofsaid elements is interchanged with another element of the same kind, ora further element is interposed between the elements to be connectedwith each other.
 4. A hybrid computing system of the automaticconnection type as claimed in claim 1, wherein a connection changingterminal is interposed between the elements to be connected with eachother so that the connection can be continued through said terminal.